In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 544: Public resentment boils over

Zhu Changhe was naturally unaware of what was happening at the city gate, but as the commander of the Qingzhou army, he could roughly guess what was going to happen.

Sealing off the prefectural city is no small matter. Those commoners will certainly be dissatisfied and even resist. Without killing some people to deter them, it will be difficult for the Qingzhou army to successfully seal off the city.

At this moment, Zhu Changhe stood outside the city gate, gazing at the completely closed gate, his brows furrowed into a knot.

The Qingzhou army could certainly blockade the city; it wasn't difficult. But as for finding the murderer of the Qing King... Zhu Changhe didn't have much hope.

Just now, Steward Wang had told him the details of Qing Wang's death, so Zhu Changhe also learned about the murderer's strength.

According to Steward Wang, the murderer first defeated Xia Yan, the commander of the royal guards, then killed 200 of the royal guards, and finally brutally murdered the prince...

Xia Yan is a peak fourth-rank martial artist, and the weakest of the 200 royal guards are at least eighth-rank in strength. The prince himself is no weaker than a fourth-rank martial artist.

Even with such a formidable lineup, they still couldn't defeat the murderer.

It is evident that the murderer's strength must be above the peak of the fourth rank, and may even be a martial artist at the upper third rank.

As for martial artists at the third rank... they are no longer beings that ordinary armies can capture.

Indeed, even a third-rank martial artist could not withstand an army of tens of thousands. After all, human strength has its limits. Even if a third-rank martial artist killed tens of thousands of chickens, it would take a lot of effort, let alone tens of thousands of rigorously trained soldiers.

But that's only if the top-tier martial artists choose to confront the army head-on. If the top-tier martial artists don't choose to confront the army head-on and instead simply run away...

Even with tens of thousands of troops, let alone hundreds of thousands, it would probably be difficult to capture him.

This is also why the Xia Kingdom's imperial court has always treated martial artists of the highest rank with utmost respect and was unwilling to provoke them unless absolutely necessary.

There's no way around it; capturing or even killing a third-rank martial artist, whom even the army can't handle, is just too difficult.

However, martial artists of the highest rank could easily harm important officials of the court or even the royal family, so no one wanted to provoke such a powerful enemy.

Knowing this, Zhu Changhe had no confidence in capturing the murderer.

However... for the sake of his official position and his own life, he had to do everything in his power to catch the murderer.

"Butler Wang."

Zhu Changhe turned to Steward Wang and asked, "Do you think the thieves are still in the city?"

Upon hearing this, Steward Wang pondered for a moment and said, "According to the eyewitnesses, although the thief killed the prince, he was also seriously injured. Therefore, I believe that the thief is very likely still hiding in the city to recuperate."

When he said this, Steward Wang was actually a little guilty, because he put himself in the position of the thief and realized that if he were the thief, he would never stay in the city and wait to die after killing the King of Qing.

Moreover, Steward Wang knew that the thief was not alone, and even if he was seriously injured, he would still have the ability to leave the city.

"Is it?"

Zhu Changhe gave Steward Wang a deep look, hoping that, as Steward Wang had said, the thief was still in the city recuperating from his injuries.

Unfortunately... that hope is really slim.

"General, rest assured, we only need to seal off the city and search every house in the city. We will surely find the murderer's whereabouts and then capture him to make amends."

"That's all!"

Zhu Changhe summoned a messenger and solemnly ordered, "Pass on my order to search the entire city and not let any suspicious person go unpunished."

"Yes."

Soon, chaos erupted throughout the city as Qingzhou soldiers broke down doors and searched every household.

Of course, while conducting the search, the Qingzhou soldiers in charge of the search also took away some valuables from the people's homes, causing resentment to boil over throughout the city of Qingzhou, and the people were filled with grievances.

"Damn it, these soldiers from Qingzhou are shameless. They even stole my old hen that I've been raising for two years."

"You'd be lucky if you lost a hen, but my neighbor... when the Qingzhou army searched his house, they raped his fourteen-year-old virgin."

"Damn Qingzhou army, why doesn't God open his eyes and send down a bolt of lightning to kill them?"

"They didn't leave me a single grain of rice in my rice jar, those damned Qingzhou soldiers."

"We finally managed to get rid of that wicked king, but then this disaster struck. When will this damned world ever end!"

"..."

The people of the prefecture city naturally dared not resist the Qingzhou army, but their resentment grew stronger and stronger. The resentment in the entire prefecture city had reached its peak.

Meanwhile, although the Qingzhou army had blockaded the city, many clever people had already left the city before the Qingzhou army blockaded it.

Therefore, the news of the death of the Green King inevitably spread.

Centered on Qingzhou City, news of the Qing King's murder spread like wildfire throughout the entire Nine Provinces...

Yuezhou, the prefectural capital.

Jiang Canghai, who had just returned to his residence, had not even had a moment to rest when he received a summons from the Little Ming King.

Jiang Canghai did not hesitate and hurriedly set off for Xiaoming Wang's residence. Soon after, he saw Xiaoming Wang sitting in the main seat of the living room and a group of high-ranking members of the White Lotus Sect.

"Elder Jiang is back? I wonder how his harvest was in Qingzhou?"

"Elder Jiang must have already found the Python Blood Grass and Python Bone Grass?"

Judging from Elder Jiang's expression, he must have gained a lot from this trip to Qingzhou.

"I'm afraid Elder Jiang will break through to the third rank in just a few days. I would like to congratulate Elder Jiang in advance."

"..."

Everyone greeted Jiang Canghai warmly, their faces full of flattery.

This is not only because of Elder Jiang Canghai's status, but also because Jiang Canghai is about to break through to the third rank, becoming the second third-rank martial artist of the White Lotus Sect after Xiao Mingwang.

"Thank you all."

Jiang Canghai clasped his hands in thanks to everyone, then went to his seat, which was the seat below Xiao Mingwang.

After Jiang Canghai took his seat, Xiao Mingwang gestured to the servants in the mansion to serve tea while asking, "Elder Jiang, was your trip to Qingzhou successful?"

"It went pretty well."

Jiang Canghai nodded and said, "Xia Yuanying does indeed possess a large quantity of Python Blood Grass and Python Bone Grass, and is willing to sell them!"

Upon hearing this, the eyes of many high-ranking members of the White Lotus Sect present immediately flickered.

Although their cultivation level is not as high as Jiang Canghai's, most of them are still mid-level three-grade martial artists. In the near future, they may also need to use Python Blood Grass and Python Bone Grass to break through to the third grade. Therefore, many people have begun to consider whether they should also go to Qingzhou.